FC Pinzgau Saalfelden 2-3 (0-0) SAK 1914. Goals: Tandari (51, 78); Nika (48, 85), Prötsch (68)
FC Pinzgau Saalfelden succumbed to a 3-2 (0-0) defeat against SAK 1914 in a topsy-turvy clash on Saturday afternoon. Denis Kahrimanovic came on as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining and made his comeback following a months-long spell sidelined with injury.
The match – played amid heavy snowfall – was intense from the beginning with plenty of challenges flying in. And even though there were few highlights to begin with, both teams played at a very high tempo. The first real goalscoring opportunity fell to SAK, though Petrit Nika lifted the ball narrowly over the crossbar. A few moments later, a perfect ball was threaded through to Semir Gvodzjar but the forward was thwarted by the SAK shot-stopper at the last moment. In the period that followed, the two teams cancelled each other out very well – to the extent that a long-range effort from Jonas Schwaighofer was the only further incident of note before the whistle sounded for half-time.
The second 45 minutes got off to an unfortunate start for the home side. The visitors took full advantage of a failed attempted clearance by Kilian Schröcker outside of his penalty area, with Nika slotting the ball into an empty net to make it 1-0 (48). The Ziege Crew appeared unperturbed and levelled the scores at 1-1 three minutes later via a Tamas Tandari long shot. Godswill Vadze had a chance to put his side ahead around the hour mark, but the Ghanaian lost his footing on the slippery turf at the last moment and could not bring the ball under control. The Nonntalers were the more clinical team in front of goal and took advantage of their second chance of the second half to re-establish their lead via Dominik Prötsch (68). Despite another setback, the Mountainous Pine Blues tried to find their way back into the match – and managed to do so once again. Vadze played a perfect pass towards Tandari and the captain did not need to think twice, calmly slotting home for 2-2. A few moments later, Vadze missed a sitter and then SAK 1914 put themselves back in front at the other end. Tandari missed with a powerful header in stoppage time and the hosts ultimately succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.
LINE-UPS
Schröcker; Mühlbacher (Kahrimanovic, 71), Nupaya, Adjei, Schwaighofer; Benedek; Vadze, Streitwieser, Gvozdjar (Aydinhan, 71), Fürstaller; Tandari